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AJ Styles
In early 2001, AJ Styles was offered a contract by WCW along with fellow wrestler Air Paris. Styles (renamed Air Styles) and Paris were placed in a tag team, which was named Air Raid. The team's gimmick saw both men dress in G-suits, with Air Raid appearing on Thunder three times. On the March 5, 2001 episode of Nitro, they were entered into a tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, but were eliminated in the first round by eventual winners Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo. On July 9, 2001, Styles had his first WWF tryout match against Rick Michaels before the taping of Raw. Styles won with a Shooting Star Press but was not offered a contract. Styles made two more appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2002: on the January 26 episode of Metal (taped on January 21), in a losing effort against The Hurricane, and in a dark match prior to the January 27 episode of SmackDown! (taped on January 22), where he was defeated by Rico Constantino. After not being on WWE television since his Metal match in 2002, Styles made his re-debut in WWE on January 24 at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view during the eponymous match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, entering at #3 and receiving a loud ovation, thus establishing him as a fan favorite. Styles went on to eliminate Curtis Axel and Tyler Breeze, before being eliminated by Kevin Owens, lasting just under 29 minutes in the match. Styles then entered a storyline with Chris Jericho, with the two exchanging victories on both Raw and SmackDown, which ultimately led to an encounter between the two on February 21 at Fastlane where Styles emerged victorious via submission. After Fastlane, Jericho and Styles formed a tag team, dubbed "Y2AJ", and went on to defeat The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) in two non-title matches. This led to a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship on the March 7 episode of Raw, which Y2AJ failed to win, after which Jericho turned on Styles and attacked him, officially ending their team. The two subsequently interfered in each other's matches, leading to Styles challenging Jericho to a match at WrestleMania 32, which Jericho ultimately accepted on the March 28 episode of Raw. At WrestleMania 32 on April 3, Styles lost to Jericho. On the following episode of Raw, Styles pinned Jericho in a fatal four-way match also involving the returning Cesaro and Kevin Owens to become the number one contender for Roman Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship to end the feud. In the weeks that followed, Styles united with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (later known as The Club) and an alliance, which Styles initially denied, was teased. At Payback on May 1, Reigns eventually defeated Styles by pinfall after the match was restarted twice (with Styles first winning by countout and then by disqualification), despite Gallows and Anderson's interference. Styles received a rematch against Reigns for the championship at Extreme Rules in an Extreme Rules match, but was unsuccessful due to interference from both Gallows and Anderson and The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso). The following night on Raw, Styles failed to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank against Kevin Owens. On the May 30 episode of Raw, he welcomed back a returning John Cena, only to attack Cena with help from Gallows and Anderson, turning into a villain as a result. This set up a match between Styles and Cena at Money in the Bank on June 19, which Styles won after interference from The Club. At Battleground on July 24, The Club took on Cena and Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a six-man tag team match, where they lost after Cena pinned Styles. During the 2016 WWE draft on July 19, Styles was drafted to SmackDown in the first round of picks, being the brand's second pick overall, while Gallows and Anderson were drafted to Raw, splitting up The Club. Styles faced Cena once more at SummerSlam on August 21, defeating him cleanly. After his victory over Cena, Styles claimed himself to be the "new face of WWE" and "the Face That Runs the Place". Due to his victory at SummerSlam, Styles immediately re-entered the renamed WWE World Championship picture and received another opportunity at the title at Backlash against Dean Ambrose. At the pay-per view on September 11, Styles defeated Ambrose to become the WWE World Champion for the first time after a low blow, also his first championship in WWE. Styles made his first successful title defense against Ambrose in a rematch on the September 27 episode of SmackDown Live after interference from John Cena. At No Mercy on October 9, Styles retained the title against Cena and Ambrose in a triple threat match after pinning Cena. On the October 11 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles suffered a humiliating non-title match loss to enhancement talent James Ellsworth after Ambrose (who was the special guest referee) interfered. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan subsequently gave Ellsworth a WWE World Championship match against Styles on the October 18 SmackDown Live episode, which Styles lost via disqualification, but kept the title. Despite their animosity, Ambrose and Styles were part of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 20, where their team ultimately prevailed, despite the two attacking each other and causing each other's elimination during the match. On the November 22 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles lost to Ellworth in a ladder match after interference from Ambrose, earning him a SmackDown contract and future championship match. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4, Styles defeated Ambrose in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to retain the title after Ellsworth interfered and turned on Ambrose. Ellsworth explained that since he had already beaten Styles three times, he helped Styles because he wanted to defeat him again, this time for the renamed WWE Championship. On the December 20 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles squashed Ellsworth in under a minute to retain the championship and end their feud. On the December 27 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles defeated Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in a triple threat match to retain the title. Styles lost the title to Cena at the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2017, ending his reign at 140 days. On February 12 at Elimination Chamber, Styles competed in an Elimination Chamber match against Cena, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose and The Miz for the WWE Championship, where he lasted until the final two before being eliminated by Wyatt, who became the new champion. On the following episode of SmackDown Live, Styles failed to regain the title from Wyatt in a triple threat match also involving Cena. On the February 21 episode of SmackDown Live, following Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton's unwillingness to challenge Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 for the WWE Championship, Styles competed in a 10-man battle royal to determine Orton's replacement and lasted until the final two, where the match ended in a draw after he and Luke Harper eliminated each other simultaneously. The following week, he defeated Harper to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but Orton betrayed Wyatt and reclaimed his right to face him at WrestleMania 33, leading to a match between Styles and Orton on the March 7 episode of SmackDown Live, where Styles lost his number one contendership. On the March 14 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles ambushed SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon (who Styles blamed for him not challenging for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania) when he arrived at the arena and slammed his head into the window of a parked car. Afterwards, his boss Daniel Bryan spoke to Styles and—in storyline—fired him for his actions along with having security escort Styles out of the building. However, later that night, McMahon returned to the arena and announced that he would face Styles at WrestleMania 33, where Styles defeated McMahon. On the following episode of SmackDown Live, Styles shook hands with McMahon, thus turning face in the process. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles defeated Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn to become the number one contender for the United States Championship. At Backlash on May 21, Styles lost his match against Kevin Owens for the United States Championship by countout after Owens got Styles' leg trapped in an announce table. At Money in the Bank on June 18, Styles was unsuccessful in winning the Money in the Bank ladder match. After Styles became once again the number one contender to Owens' championship, a title match was set for Battleground. However, Styles defeated Owens during a WWE live event at Madison Square Garden on July 7 to capture the United States Championship for the first time in his career. At Battleground on July 23, Styles lost the title back to Owens, but regained it two days later on SmackDown Live in a triple threat match also involving a returning Chris Jericho, thus becoming a two-time United States Champion. At SummerSlam on August 20, Styles defeated Owens to retain the title with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. After once again defeating Owens two days later on SmackDown Live, Styles revived John Cena's U.S. open challenge, successfully defending the title two times on SmackDown Live against Tye Dillinger, who was also in a rivalry with Baron Corbin about who should answer Styles' challenge, leading to a triple threat match at Hell in a Cell on October 8, where Styles lost the title to Corbin who pinned Dillinger, thus ending his reign at 75 days. After failing to regain the title from Corbin on SmackDown Live, Styles began a rivalry with then current WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, by confronting and attacking him. During that time, Styles also appeared at Raw's exclusive event TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22, competing against Finn Bálor due to Bálor's original opponent Bray Wyatt not being cleared to compete in a losing effort. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown Live in Manchester, England, Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and won the title in what marked the first time the title changed hands on SmackDown since September 2003, claiming his second WWE Championship and becoming recognized by WWE as the first titleholder crowned outside of North America (Antonio Inoki had won the title in Japan in 1979, but this reign is unrecognized by WWE). With the win, Styles replaced Mahal in the champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series on November 19 against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, which he would go on to lose. At Clash of Champions on December 17, Styles defeated Mahal via submission in his first title defense. Styles' next feud came against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, whom he lost back-to-back matches to due to interference, which led to a handicap championship match at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018 which Styles won. Styles then successfully defended the title against Owens, Zayn, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin in a six-pack challenge at Fastlane on March 11. Shortly after, Styles started a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura (who won the Royal Rumble and chose to challenge him at WrestleMania 34). At the event, on April 8, Styles defeated Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship, and after the match, Styles was subjected to a classless assault by his opponent, turning Nakamura into a villainand heating up their feud. Styles would go on to retain his title against Nakamura on three different events: Greatest Royal Rumble by double count-out, Backlash in a no disqualification match that ended in a no contest and Money in the Bank, where Styles ended the feud after winning a last man standing match. After a successful defense against Rusev at Extreme Rules, On August 14, Styles became the longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history, surpassing the 280-day record set by John "Bradshaw" Layfield. During the summer, Styles started a feud with Samoa Joe, retaining the title at SummerSlam, despite losing via disqualification. Styles and Joe's rivalry continued following SummerSlam over Styles' wife, Wendy, where Joe claimed he would defeat AJ and become the "new daddy", leading to a rematch at Hell in a Cell, where Styles defeated Joe in controversial fashion to retain the title; Styles submitted to Joe during a roll-up, however, the referee did not see the submission and counted the pin allowing Styles to retain the title. Styles defeated Joe two more times at Super Show-Down by submission and Crown Jewel. In October, Styles started to feud with Daniel Bryan. They would be scheduled to face each other for the title at Crown Jewel, but the match took place on the October 30 episode of SmackDown Live, after Bryan's refusal to work in Saudi Arabia. Styles managed to retain the title. On November 7, Styles surpassed the 365-day mark of his title reign, becoming the 8th man to have held the WWE Title for a continuous reign of a full year. On the November 13 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles faced Daniel Bryan, where he lost the title following a low blow. This ended his reign at 371 days, which tied him for the eighth longest reign in WWE Championship history (along with Randy Savage's 1988–1989 reign). Styles received his rematch against Bryan at TLC, but failed to regain the championship. After TLC, Styles character was more aggressive, including attacking WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. He was referred to as "The Real AJ Styles", as opposed to Bryan's character "The New Daniel Bryan". On the December 18 episode of SmackDown Live, Styles introduced Mustafa Ali as his protégé, resulting in Ali pinning Bryan in a tag team match also involving Styles and Andrade Cien Almas later that episode. Styles once again failed to win the title at Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, after a returning Rowan attacked Styles when the referee was incapacitated and allowing Bryan to gain the win. Following the Royal Rumble, Styles gained another opportunity to earn back the championship after qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match to take place at the pay-per-view of the same name. However, Styles was unsuccessful at the event after he was eliminated by Randy Orton. In the weeks leading up to Fastlane, Styles continued his feud with Randy Orton after being eliminated by Orton at the Elimination Chamber and a week prior in a gauntlet match. At the event, after Orton interrupted Elias, Styles hit Orton with a Phenomenal Forearm out of nowhere. This lead to a confrontation between the two on the March 12 edition of SmackDown Live in which Styles challenged Orton to a match at WrestleMania 35. The match was later confirmed a few days later where Styles defeated Orton. The next day, it was reported that Styles suffered an injury during his match with Orton and was sent home to recover. Styles did not appear on the Raw or SmackDown following WrestleMania, and it was reported to be a hip injury. On the April 15 episode of Raw, Styles was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up. He teamed up with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to beat the team of Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin. The following week on Raw, Chief Executive Officer Triple H scheduled two triple threat matches with the winners facing each other to determine the next contender against Rollins for the Universal Championship. Styles defeated fellow draftees Rey Mysterio and Samoa Joe in the first triple threat match and faced off against Corbin, who defeated McIntyre and fellow draftee The Miz in the second triple threat match. Styles defeated Corbin to earn a Universal Championship match against Rollins at Money in the Bank. At the event, Rollins retained against Styles. Styles returned on the June 24 episode of Raw, after a month of inactivity due to injuries suffered at Money in the Bank, defeating United States Champion Ricochet in a non-title match. On the July 1 episode of Raw, Styles failed to win the United States Championship from Ricochet. After the match, he attacked Ricochet with help from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson thus turning heel in the process for the first time since April 2017. At Extreme Rules, Styles defeated Ricochet to win the United States Championship for a third time. On the July 22 episode of Raw, The Club was renamed "The O.C." ("Original Club"). Styles retained the title over Ricochet at SummerSlam. The next month at Clash of Champions, Styles retained against Cedric Alexander. Following his win over Alexander, Styles would begin a short feud with Humberto Carrillo, whom he defeated at Crown Jewel. On the November 25 episode of Raw, Styles lost his title to Rey Mysterio, ending his reign at 134 days.Category:Raw Superstars Category:WWE Champions Category:WWE United States Champions